I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2586, a
bill that would provide a temporary increase in the public debt
limit while adding extraneous measures that have no place on
legislation of this kind.

This bill would make it almost inevitable that the
Government would default for the first time in our history.
This is deeply irresponsible. A default has never happened
before, and it should not happen now.

I have repeatedly urged the Congress to pass promptly
legislation raising the debt limit for a reasonable period of
time to protect the Nation's creditworthiness and avoid default.
Republicans in the Congress have acknowledged the need to raise
the debt limit; the budget resolution calls for raising it to
$5.5 trillion, and the House and Senate voted to raise it to
that level in passing their reconciliation bills.

This bill, however, would threaten the Nation with default
after December 12 -- the day on which the debt limit increase in
the bill would expire -- for two reasons:

First, under this bill, on December 13 the debt limit would
fall to $4.8 trillion, an amount $100 billion below the current
level of $4.9 trillion. The next day, more than $44 billion in
Government securities mature, and the Federal Government would
be unable to borrow the funds to redeem them. The owners of
those securities would not be paid on time.

Second, the bill would severely limit the cash management
options that the Treasury may be able to use to avert a default.
Specifically, it would limit the Secretary's flexibility to
manage the investments of certain Government funds --
flexibility that the Congress first gave to President Reagan.
Finally, while the bill purports to protect benefit recipients,
it would make it very likely that after December 12, the Federal
Government would be unable to make full or timely payments for a
wide variety of Government obligations, including interest on
the public debt, Medicare, Medicaid, military pay, certain
veterans' benefits, and payments to Government contractors.

As I have said clearly and repeatedly, the Congress should
keep the debt limit separate from the debate over how to balance
the budget. The debt limit has nothing to do with reducing the
deficit; it has to do with meeting the obligations that the
Government has already incurred.

Nevertheless, Republicans in the Congress have resorted to
extraordinary tactics to try to force their extreme budget and
priorities into law. In essence, they have said they will not
pass legislation to let the Government pay its bills unless I
accept their extreme, misguided priorities.

This is an unacceptable choice, and I must veto this
legislation.

The Administration also strongly opposes the addition of
extraneous provisions on this bill. Items like habeas corpus
and regulatory reform are matters that should be considered
and debated separately. Extraneous issues of this kind have
no place in this bill.

The Congress should pass a clean bill that I can sign.
With that in mind, I am sending the Congress a measure to raise
the permanent debt limit to $5.5 trillion as the Congress called
for in the budget resolution, without any extraneous provisions.